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7 Beloved, let us love one another, because love is from God; everyone who loves is born of God and knows God. 8 Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love. 9 God's love was revealed among us in this way: God sent his only Son into the world so that we might live through him. 10 In this is love, not that we loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the atoning sacrifice for our sins. 11 Beloved, since God loved us so much, we also ought to love one another. 12 No one has ever seen God; if we love one another, God lives in us, and his love is perfected in us. 13 By this we know that we abide in him and he in us, because he has given us of his Spirit. 14 And we have seen and do testify that the Father has sent his Son as the Savior of the world. 15 God abides in those who confess that Jesus is the Son of God, and they abide in God. 16 So we have known and believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and those who abide in love abide in God, and God abides in them. 17 Love has been perfected among us in this: that we may have boldness on the day of judgment, because as he is, so are we in this world. 18 There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear; for fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not reached perfection in love. 19 We love because he first loved us. 20 Those who say, "I love God," and hate their brothers or sisters, are liars; for those who do not love a brother or sister whom they have seen, cannot love God whom they have not seen. 21 The commandment we have from him is this: those who love God must love their brothers and sisters also. (1 John 4:7-21 NRSV Bible)
God has a wonderful sense of humor. Why else would one of the funniest church jokes be possible with one of the verses in this passage. I heard this joke many years ago and it was so funny I still use it from time to time. The story goes that a couple deeply in love and wanting to marry decided to pray about which verse in the Bible would be ideal for topping the cake. You know instead of Happy Birthday or whatever, the Bible verse would be there. They met for their usual morning date at a coffee shop (This joke is so old it takes place before Starbucks!) and as they studied the Bible, the groom finds verse 18: "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear." Aww, perfect says the bride and begins to weep. They were fearful of the future as most couples are; college debts, housing costs, groceries, etc. And since the groom had written the verse down on a napkin when he sees his intended crying, hands her the napkin and she dabs her tears. They then take the tear-soaked napkin to the baker who will prepare the cake. On the day of the wedding, the two gasped as did the parents for on the cake were the words: "You've had five husbands, and the man you're living with now isn't even your husband. " The tears of the bride erased the 1 before John 4:18 and so the baker looked up in his Bible that verse and that was what he wrote on the cake.
Is it hard for you to say you love someone? Were you told on a regular basis that you were loved? More than likely, if you didn't hear that often and if you didn't reciprocate and say to the one telling you, I love you, then as you grew older it was a rare thing to say. My grandfathers were raised in different times and I don't know if they were ever told by their mothers that they were loved, and I believe I never heard from either that they loved me. And since they were strangers to that concept of saying I love you, my Dad knew only to say, for a while, "We love you." I took it gladly, for I knew by every other indication that he did indeed love me. And even when Mom died, he continued to say "We love you." Then it may have hit him that he should change it and he said "I love you" on a regular basis. And friends, we should be free to say that as often as we can, and more importantly, to show it as part of who we are. The story is told of the old farmer and his wife who while sitting on their porch one afternoon the wife asks her husband, "Honey, do you love me? You never tell me that you do!" The old man thought about it and said, "I told you once that I love you and if I ever change my mind I'll tell you then." Ouch.
Friends, it is important to say we love one another and it is more important to show it. The strong foundation of the Christian faith is to know and recieve the love of God through His Son Jesus, Who showed perfect love and whose teachings and practices are all based on love. The disciple writing this passage tells it straight up: "Whoever does not love does not know God, for God is love." Sad that there are truly those who say they love, but truly do not. God loved us first. We heard it and received it and so we not only should say it but demonstrate it. For on the day of judgment we will have boldness to stand before God and we will be judged according to our love and how we shared it with others. Harsh will be the judgment for those who say "I love God," and live out a life filled with hate for all others. It is God's commandment that we should love all people, with NO exceptions.
As recipients of such lavish love, we are called to love one another. Our capacity to love flows from our connection to God, for His Spirit dwells within us. When we love one another, we reflect the very character of God to the world. Our love becomes tangible evidence of His presence among us.
PRAYER: God of love, thank You for the incomprehensible depth of Your love. Teach us to love one another as You have loved us—sacrificially, unconditionally, and extravagantly. May Your love permeate every aspect of our lives, casting out fear and filling us with boldness and compassion. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Have a great and blessed day in the Lord. YOUR CALL TO ACTION: Reflect, practice and live love with all people. If you're scared, cast out that fear and ask God to show you how to better love!
I love you and I thank God for you!
Pastor Eradio Valverde, Jr.
